Blank feeder



Patented Feb. 9, 1926.

' UNITED STATES 1,572,438 PATENT OFFICE.

LEONE. LA BOMBARD AND MELVIN H. SIDEBOTHAM, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS,

' ASSIGNORS TO SPECIALTY AUTOMATIC MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHELSEA, MASSA- CHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

BLANK FEEDER.

Application filed June 20, 1921. Serial No. 478,846.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be, it known that we, LEON E. LA BOM- naun and MELVIN I-I. Sinnno'ri-IAM, citizens of the United States, and residents of Chelsea,

in the county of Sufl'olk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Blank Feeders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanism for detaching blanks from the bottom of a pile,

and advancing them toward other mechanism such as folding devices for converting the blanks into flat tubes or boxes.

In blank feeders of this type a wide belt or a plurality of narrow belts side by side have been employed, a pile of blanks resting thereon and so held laterally that the travelling supporting belts detach the blanks singly and successively from the bottom and advanee them edgewise. Such belts are made of frictional material, preferably rubber, which is elastic. When such belt forms one side of a throat or gateway through which the blanks pass,-any variation in the thickness of the belt so as to vary the vertical width of the throat interferes with the op eration of the feeder such as by permitting the passage of two blanks together or the jamming of two blanks in the throat.

One of the objects of: our invention is to lll'llJl'OVQ- feeders of this type by means of a structure which ensures uniformity in the vertical width of the throat through which the blanks pass from the pile. We attain this i object by effecting a pushing action on that portion of the belt which constitutes one side of the throat or gateway, instead of the usual pulling action. The attaining of this object 'is facilitated by a structure which 40 causes the work of frictionally detaching the blanks from the pile, and starting them forward, to be done by means entirely inde pendent of the belt or belts which form one side of the throat, so that little or no blankdetaching work is done by said belt or belts. To this end the present mechanism employs duplex friction feeders, one in advance of the other, one serving to separate the blanks successively from the bottom of a pile and the other coacting with an adjustable gate member in permitting the passage of but one blank at a time.

' Another objectof the present invention is to provide improved means for ensuring regularity in the feed regardless of the height of the pile of blanks in the hopper.

Another object is to insure the proper lining up of the blanks when deposited in the hopper and during the operation of the mechanism.

\Vith the above and other objects in View, the invention consists in the improvements substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

Of the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of our improved feeder in one of its embodiments.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same.

Figure 3 represents a section on line 3-3 of Figure 2. on a smaller scale, and showingalso a portion of the machine to which the blanks are fed.

Figure 4; is a detail perspective view of one of the supporting strips sometimes employed.

Figure 5 is a detail sectional elevation of a pair of thespringpressed rolls.

Similar reference characters indicate similar parts in all of the views.

Side portions of the frame of the machine are indicated at 12, said portions being connected by suitable tie rods and by two cross bars 13, 14, each of which is of such size, strength, and cross-sectional shape as to rigidly support certain parts which project therefrom as hereinafter described, and yet permit those parts to be laterally adjusted on the bars without deviation in their planes of operation.

While the feeder herein described and claimed is ca able of use in connection with various kin s or types of machines for treating the blanks fed, such as the making of envelopes or the printing of sheets, it has been designed particularly for use in connection with box folding machines of the type known as rotary such as referred to in our Letters Patent No. 1,444,348, dated Feb. 6, 1923. The blanks are delivered by the feeder singly and successively to one or more carrying belts 15, (Fig. 3% and are held in contact therewith by ro ls 16 idly mounted in the lower ends of inclined frames 17 supported by bars 18 which, in turn, are sup-ported by brackets 19 mounted on rods or shafts 20, 21, which are threaded (Fig. 2) for lateral adjustment purposes.

As explained in the patent application referred to, it is essential that the blanks shall not slip or turn askew while being carried through the folding mechanism of the machine by the belts 15. It is equally essential that the blanks shall be accurately. delivered to those belt-s. \Ve have found that the attaining of this result is best accomplished by a feeding mechanism which can well be referred to as duplex because one part of it acts to ensure the separation of the blanks singly from a pile in a hopper accurately squared up for delivery to the. other part which feeds the detached blanks singly and successively to the carrier belts 15, in accurately squared up positions of travel.

lVe will first describe the primary mechanism including the hopper and the means for separating the blanks singly from a pile therein and starting them toward the secondary mechanism.

Mounted on the bar 14 are two brackets 22, 23, and an intermediate bracket 24, each having a portion which fits the bar 14 and provided with a clamp screw 25 to secure it in any desired laterally adjusted position.

. Each of the brackets projects from the bar 14 as shown in Fi ures 1 and 3 and is )1'0- vided with a longitudinal slot 26, an idly mounted pulley 27 at its outer end, and a series of idle rolls 28. A shaft 29 extends through the bracket and is driven by gearing inagear case 30(Fig.2). Splined on the shaft 29 are three pulleys 31, each being conneeted to' a bracket so as to-be shifted laterally when a bracket is adjusted. Each bracket carries afriction belt 32, preferably of rubber, mounted on pulleys 31, 27, and sufiported atintermediate points by the r0 5 28. Said belts are driven in unison by the pulleys 31 and form the floor on which a pile of blanks is placed.

Secured to and rising from the bracket 23 is a plate 33 which forms one side wall for a pile of blanks on the belts. An opposite side plate 34 is carried by a bracket 35 adjustably mounted on a rib of the bracket 22 so as to be shifted longitudinally of the latter to suit different shapes of blanks in the hopper.

Each side plate carries one or more abutments or gages 36 for corner portions of the blanks. The lower ends of said abutments or gages terminate a slight distance above the plane of the belts 32 so as to not interfere with edgewise travel of each lower blank separated from those aboveit by the moving belts. The stops or gages are ad? justably connected with the side plates, as by clamp screws 37, in order to secure either of them in more or less advanced position to suit different shapes ofblanks. The purpose of the small plate 34 is mainly to furnish a support for the gage strip 36, as the bracket 22 has a wall portion 38 extending Owing to the fact that supports (see Figs. 1 and 4) consist of smooth metal strips 40 each having a rigid in adjustably secured by a set screw 42 1n a socket 43 provided in a block 44 mounted upon the cross bar 14 and secured in proper lateral position thereon by a set screw 45. These supporting strips 40 can be removed when narrow blanks are Operated upon.

For some kinds or qualitiesof blanks it is desirable to hold the blanks more or less inclined; that is to support portions of the blanks back of their front edges somewhat above the plane of the belts 32 so that the belts frictionally act on the blanks only near their front edges. To this end each bracket 22, 23, 24, has an adjustable and displaceable blank raiser consisting in the present embodiment of the invention, of a bar 46 having a slot 47 and an idle or anti-friction roll 48 at one end. By means of a bolt and nut 49 passing through the slots 47 and 26 each bar 46 can be set. and secured so that its roll 48 may occupy any one of a wide variety of positions back and forth or up and down for the lowermost blank of the pile to rest thereon.

the brackets 22, 23, 24, are mounted upon a single cross bar as at 14 and project therefrom, the bars 46 can be adjusted to any position desired without interference such as would exist if an outer bar extended under the outer ends of the brackets.

To support rear portions of very large blanks we employ removable or adjustable extension bars 50 (Fig. 1) each having an idle or anti-friction roll 51 at its outer end. The inner end of each bar 50 has a lateral threaded pin or bolt passing through the outer end of the slot 26 of its supporting bracket and secured by a nut 52- The bars 50can be entirely removed, or allowed to hang in inoperative position, or can be socured so that their rolls 51 will occupy-"any desired position of elevation to support the rear portions of large blanks.

In Figure 2 the parts above described are illustrated as adjusted for medium sized blanks the shape of which is indicated by dotted lines. The attendant, when placing a pile of such blanks in the hopper, so deposits them that the three vertical stops or gages 36 will line up three corner portions of the blanks of the pile, thereby ensuring correct placingof the pile in the hopper. If the blanks have a long right-hand edgemuch longer than the one indicated in dotted ment of three gage strips as illustrated} This correct starting of the operation is essential because if the blanks are to be correctly folded they must not start askew. Hence provision is made for adjusting thegages 36 back or forth. The action of the primary belts 32 tends to hold the pile of blanks against the two forward gage strips, and also acts to separate the lowermost blank from the others as soon as there is a passageway for it. We will now describe the gate which ermits the blanks to pass, one after the ot ier, and the secondary belt carriers which feed the blanks to the folding or other mechanism which is to treat them.

A pulley or roll 53 is driven in the direction of the arrow in Figure .3 by suitable gearing in the gear' case 30 (Figure 2) so as to push rather than pull the upper operative stretch or stretches of a belt or belts 54 made preferably of rubber. As illus trated there are several relatively narrow belts 54 which may be laterally shifted on the roll 53 to the desired positions and held in lateral position by guide blades or fingers 55 mounted upon a cross rod 56 and adapted to be shifted laterally thereon and secured by set screws. The other ends of the belts 54 run over a small shaft 57 mounted to revolve freely.

Mounted on the cross bar .13 so as to be adjusted along it is a hollow frame orcasting 58 having a removable side plate 59 (Fig. 1). Said casting has a threaded stud 60 extending through the long slot 61 in the cross bar 13. By means of a nut 62 engaging the stud 60 and having a handle 63, the casting is secured to the cross bar in any lateral position to which it'has been adjustcd so that the abutment or gate member carried by the casting as presently described will cooperate with the proper portion of the front edge of each blank being pushed forward by the primary belt or bolts 32.

The abutment or gate member referred to comprises a strip 64 mounted to be adjusted vertically in a guidewav formed in or carried by the casting 58. To hold the strip 64. firmly we provide a clamp lever 65 pivoted to the top of the casting at 66 and having its long end provided with a handle 67 by means of which the short end of the lever can be swung against the rear flat face of the strip and, cam-like, bind it in its vertical ways. This provides for ad] ustlng the space between the lower end of the strip and the belt 54 below it. A convenient way to determine the proper spacing is to place a blank of the stock to be operated upon under the lower end of the strip while it is free, lower the strip into contact with, that blank, and then clamp the strip.

A very important feature of our invention consists in the fact that the gate provided, in this instance, by the lower end of the strip 64, is directly above the axis of the belt-driving roll or drum 53, and that there is no pulling action on the portion of the belt opposite said end of the strip. It ensures absolute uniformity in the width of the gate. Friction feeding belts are always more or less elastic; when of rubber (the best material) very much so. In the present structure there is so much of the belt 54 in contact with the roll 53 that the portion of the belt which is below the gate strip is under no pulling strain whatever and therefore the thickness of that portion remains constant and the height of the passageway for the blank urged forward by the primary belt or belts 32 remains constant and the same as that provided when the gate strip was adjusted in the mannei described. Any portion of the belt 54 away from the roll which drives it is subject to more or less variation in thickness, due to vibrations or more or less stretching of the belt. Furthermoregl since the work of detaching the bot-toid blanks and starting them forward is performed substantially o1 entirely by the primary feeder which urges the blanks toward the gateway, the secondary feeder has little or no pulling work to do on each blank and therefore there is little or no tendency of the belt or belts 54 to stretch and diminish in thickness.

For the reasons just explained it will be understood that uniformity in the gate space could not be secured if long continuous belts were used instead of the primary and secondary belts 32, 54, because the gate would then necessarily be at an intermediate point where the belt is subject to fluctuations in thickness.

To ensure a firm carrying grip on each blank passing the gate, we provide the following mechanism. Under the operative stretch of the belt below the gate-carrying casting. a cage 68 having idle rolls 69 is mounted on a transverse bar 70. The other end of the cage bears on the shaft 57 (Fig 2). Said rolls support the intermediate portion of said belt stretch. To hear on the blanks and hold themin contact with 2 in side wall portions of the lower edge The edges of blanks are sometimes rough or slightly curled. To ensure the proper entrance of such into the space or throat below the ,gate strip, and also to ensure the existence of suflicient pressure of the blanks on the belt or belts to cause enough friction between them and the belt or belts to effect proper feeding even when the pile of blanks has been diminished to but a few,

we provide means for pressing the front edges of the lower blanks toward the said space or throat. Said means in the structure illustrated comprises a pair of notched wheels 75 small peripheral portions of which project through slots in the gate strip 64. By friction mechanism presently described the wheels 7 5 are subject to a con 'stant tendency to rotate in the direction of the arrow in Figure 3 so as to urge the front edges of the lower blanks of a pile directly toward that portion of the belt or belts 54 driven by the roll 53. The wheels 75 are carried by a shaft76 mounted in the lower chambered portion of the casting 58 and the teeth of one of them are engaged by a small pinion- 77 the shaft of which has a sprocket over .which a chain 78 runs from a sprocket 79 carried by a shaft 80. 1 The shaft 80 extends through the laterally adjustable casting and its side plate 59 (Fig. 1) and is frictionally driven by suitable means. Such means might comprise a belt 81 running from a grooved pulley 82 car-- ried by a drive shaft 83 to a grooved pulley 84 secured to the shaft 80, such belt permitting a slip when blanks engaged by theteeth of the pressing wheels prevent said wheels from rotating. We prefer however to m0unt the pulley 84 loosely on the shaft 80, with a fixed collar at one side and provide a friction disk 85 to bear against the other side, said disk being splined on the shaft and having a spring 86 confined between it.

and a collar 87 adjustable on the shaft. By adjusting the collar the pressure of the disk 85 against the pulley 84 can be varied to suit the requirements of different blan (s.

'. If the material of the blanks is quite tough so that the teeth of the presser wheels could not readily indent or cut the edges of the blanks the collar 87 can be' set up so that there is more friction between the disk 85 and pulley 84 than would be safe when the blanks are of weak or thin material. As best shown in Figure 1 the gate 'strip 64 has slots or kerfs at each end and the I presser wheels project through those at the lower end. As the machine employing this feeder sometimes operates on blanks at the rate of eighty thousand an hour, the operative end of the gate strip becomes worn quite soon. By giving the ends of the gate strip a duplicate formation and mounting it so that it can be set with'either end in operative position we double the length of its period of utility.

So far as we are aware, all prior machines for folding blanks and employing glue-applyingdevices locate the said devices adjacent to those portions of the machine which begin to fold the blanks. In such machines therefore glue is not applied to the blanks until after they leave the feeding mechanism. For several reasons we find it advantageous to apply glue to the blanks while circle in Figure 3, the glue wheel 88 is located alongside of the feeder belts 5.4 instead of beyond them as is customary. For the reasons well known in this art, the wheel 88 applies glue to the under surface of a marginal portion or flap of each passing blank. The wheel 88 and the mechanism within the glue box 89 are, preferably, the same as shown and described in our application filed April 6, 1921, Serial No. 459,135.

One advantage obtained by locating the glue wheel as described is that since the feeder is so constructed as to prevent any possibility of the blanks going through askew, the stripe'of glue applied to the under surface of a marginal portion of each blank is certain to be parallel. with the edge blank. Therefore the stripe of glue is certain to be parallel. with the edge of the blank. Another advantage is that more time is given for the glue to partially dry before the fluid, and the more time it has to partially 'dry before completion of the folding, the

better is its adhesive quality provided, of course, that such lapse of time is not too great.

The blanks for some styles of boxes are very irregular in form and have long relatively narrow extensions or flaps which, when in the hopper, project forward beyond the floor of; the hopper. To permit such blanks to be operated upon without having anything in the way of the said long flaps, the gate-carrying member 58 is so mounted as to permit such long flaps to extend alongside of it. This result is obtained by supporting the member 58 on the crossbar 13 and by so proportioning the member 58 that the distance of the gate 64 from said bar 13 is ample to permit the longest designed blank flaps to lie or extend alongside of said member 58.

The two notched wheels 75 hereinbefore described constitute a presser which is so actuated as to exert uninterrupted downward pressure on the blank or blanks which contact therewith, and said pressure is transmitted through lower blanks to the bottom one which is bearing on the feeder 54. As a matter of fact each notched wheel provides a plurality of teeth either one of which ma enter between theed es of two blanks a s ort distance above the bottom of the pile and act on the top of the edge portion of the blank under that tooth so as to urge the front of that blank down and transmit pressure through the others below it to ensure feeding of the bottom blank through the narrow outlet below the gate strip 64 whether the edge of said bottom blank is curled or not. The said gate strip, aided by the upright guides 36 (see Fig. 2 and the dotted blank outline), ensures the holding of the pile which is supported by the feeder belts 32 in such vertical position that the edges of the blanks are in vertical alinement.

Consequently, as the successive removal edgewise of the bottom blanks is effected through the narrow outlet, all other blanks in the pile gradually descend without lateral shifting, and all are so held or guided during their descent as to be subjected to the action of the presser. And this is effected without re uiring more attention at any time than t 1e occasional placing of a fresh stock of blanks in the hopper on top of those which are in the hopper unfed. Re gardless of whether the pile in the hopper is high or low, a continuous pressure is kept on the blanks to urge them toward the member which feeds them out successively. The action may be illustratively explained by stating that if the casting 58 and all parts carried thereby were to be removed, the pressing operation could be performed manually by an attendant using the nails of two or more fingers to successively engage edge portions of the blanks and exert downward pressure. The movements of the teeth described simulate such finger movements.

Having now described our invention, we claim: 1. Mechanism of the character described comprising primary and secondary endless friction carriers for blanks, means for laterally holding a pile of blanks on the primary carrier, and a gate member for forming abarrier for the front edges of sald pile of blanks, said gate member being mounted to'cooperate with the secondary carrier in providin a passageway for a single blank 'separate from the bottom of the pile by the primary carrier.

2. In a blank-feeding mechanism having a blank hopper and means for removing blanks singly from the bottom of a pile 1n said hopper, a pair of abutments for front edge portions of the pile, said abutments terminating above the plane of the lowermost blank of the pile, and an intermediate abutment located to provide a space that will permit the passage of but one blank at atimc. 3. A blank-feeding mechanism comprising, slde guides for a pile of blanks, a primary friction feeder to act successively on the lower blanks of the pile, an adjustable abutment for the front edges of the pile of blanks, a. driven roll directly below said abutment, and a friction belt mounted on said roll and extending in a direction to advance the blanks supplied by the primary feeder.

4. A duplex blank feeder comprising two friction belt feeders one in advance of the other, and a gate member adjacent to the forward feeder to form a throat for the passage of blanks urged towardsaid passage by the rear feeder.

5. A duplex blank feeder comprisingtwo friction belt feeders one in advance of the other, the forward belt feeder being mounted on a driven roll adjacent to the rear feeder, side guides-for a pile of blanks on the rear feeder, and an adjustable gate member mounted radially in respect to the driven roll of the forward feeder.

6. In a machine of the character described, a cross bar, a plurality of brackets extending therefrom and laterally adjustable thereon, friction feeding belts carried by said brackets, and means forlaterally supporting a pile of blanks on said belts.

7. In a machine of the character described, a cross bar, a plurality of brackets extending therefrom and laterally adjustable thereon, friction feeding belts carried by said brackets, means for laterally supporting a pile of blanks on said-belts, and adjustable members connected with said brackets and having antifriction rolls capable of location to support portions of the blanks above the plane of the belts.

8. In a machine of the character described, a blank hopper comprising longitudinally slotted members, friction feeding belts carried by said members, slotted bars having end rolls, clam members extending through the slots of said bars and the first mentioned members, and means for laterally supporting a pile of blanks on said belts.

9. A blank feeding mechanism comprising a scribed, a hopper 11. A blank feeding mechanism comprising side guides for a pile of blanks, driven belts to act on successive lower blanks of the pile, and antifriction supports adjacent to said belts, means being provided for.adjusting said antifriction supports in the direction of travel of the belts.'

12. A blank feeding mechanism comprising side guides for a pile of blanks, driven belts to act successively on lower blanks of the pile, and abutment gages for corner portions of the pile of blanks;

13. In apparatus of the character described a hopper for a pile of blanks, said hopper including means for successively feeding out the lower blanks of the pile, and abutments for corner portions of the blanks above the lower ones.

14. In apparatus of the character described I a hopper for a pile of blanks, said hopper including means for successively feeding out the lower blanks of the pile, and abutments for corner portions of the blanks above the lower ones, said abutments being adjustable in the direction of operation of the feeding means.

15. In apparatus of the character described a hopper for a pile of blanks, said hopper including means for successively feeding out the lower blanks of the pile, and abutments for corner portions of the blanks above the lower ones, said abutments being adjustable laterally and in the direction of operatlon of the feeding means.

16. In apparatus of the character defor a pile of blanks, said hopper including side walls, blank-feeding belts between said walls, and abutment strips adjustably mounted on said walls.

17. In apparatus of the character described, two feeders one in advance of the other, a gate member cooperating with the forward feeder to permit the passage of blanks singly and successively, and a supporting plate between the two feeders to direct blanks from one to the other.

18. A blank feeder having a plurality of friction feeders side by side, an independently adjustablesupporting members for portions of blanks which, in length, exceed the supporting area provided by said friction feeders.

19. In apparatus of the character described, a plurality of brackets, feeding belts supported by the'brackets, and blanksupporting extensions adjustably connected with the brackets.

20. In apparatus of the character described, a plurality of brackets, feeding belts supported bythe brackets, and blank supporting extensions adjustably connected with the brackets, said extensions having anti-friction rolls.

21. A blank feeder having a plurality of laterally adjustable feeding belts, and laterally adjustable belt-guiding fingers extending between the belts.

22. A blank feeder having an elongated driven roll, a lurality of feeding belts mounted on sai roll, and laterally adjustable fingers mounted below the belts and extending up between the lower stretches of the belts.

23. A blank-feeding mechanism having a hopper for a pile of blanks, the bottom of said hopper including friction feeding members a laterally adjustable hollow member at the front of the hopper, a gate member and blank-edge pressing means carried by said hollow member, and operating connections for the pressing means located in said hollow member.

24. A blank-feeding mechanism having a. hopper for a pile of blanks, the bottom of said hop er including friction feeding members, a aterally adjustable frame at the front of the hopper having a vertical guideway, and a reversible strip adjustably mounted in said guideway.

25. A blank-feeding mechanism having a hopper for a pile of blanks, the bottom of said hopper including friction feeding members, a laterally adjustable frame at the front of the hopper having a vertical guideway a gate strip mounted to slide in said gui eway, and a clamp in position to bind against'a surface of said strip.

26. In a paratus of the character described, a b ank-forvrarding belt having sup porting rolls, a velitiically slotted roll carrier above the bel", rolls having trunnions mounted in the slots of the carrier, and substantially straight springs connected at their mid-lengths to the carrier and extending in opposite directions therefrom and bearin on the trunnions of the rolls.

27. n a blank-feedin mechanism having a hopper for a pile of b anks and a friction feeder for removing blanks successively from the bottom of the pile, a pressing wheel opposite the front edges of the blanks, a driving wheel engaging .a rear ortion of the pressing wheel an means aving a constant tendency to actuate the driving wheel to rotate the pressing wheel in a direction to urge edge portions of the blanks toward the friction feeder.

28. In a blank-feeding mechanism having a hopper for a pile of blanks and a friction feeder for removing blanks successively from the bottom of the pile, a gate member opposite the front edges of the blanks, said gate member having a plurality of slots, a plurality of pressing wheels projecting through said slots, a driving wheel engaging a rear portion of one of the pressing wheels,

and means having a constant ten ency to 29. A blank-feeding mechanism having a hopper for a pile of blanks and a friction :l'eeder for removing the blanks singly therefrom, and an elongated gate-carrying member mounted in position to permit blanks having long forwardly extending flaps to 00- cupy said hopper wlth their flaps extending alongside of the gate-carrying member.

30. A blank-feeding mechanism having a l hopper for a pile of blanks and a friction feeder for removing the blanks singly therefrom, and a laterally adjustable elongated gate-carrying member mounted in position to permit blanks having long forwardly extending flaps to occupy said hopper with their flaps extending alongside of the gatecarrying member.

In testimony whereof we have aflixed our signatures.

LEON E. LA BOMBARD. MELVIN H. SIDEBOTHAM. 

